


Stay Young, Go Dancing

by tehfanglyfish



Series: Bellflowers [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Dancing, Deviates From Canon, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Midwinter, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28224195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tehfanglyfish/pseuds/tehfanglyfish
Summary: A queen and her knight spend an enchanted midwinter morning dancing in the snow.Written as a follow up toWhy Did I Ever Let You Go?but can be read as a standalone.
Relationships: Gwen/Leon (Merlin)
Series: Bellflowers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2067558
Comments: 12
Kudos: 11





	Stay Young, Go Dancing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilyjamesbond](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyjamesbond/gifts).



> Happiest of holidays, Lilja! Thank you for cheering me on all year and keeping the Gweon magic going in 2020. May there be much more in 2021 <3
> 
> Title shamelessly stolen from Death Cab for Cutie, because damn it, it suits Gwen and Leon.
> 
> Less sparkly notes include:  
> 1\. Written for the Once and Future Queen and her Once and Future Knight, not for any monies  
> 2\. Kindly do not repost my work

Midwinter morning – a time when all but the most essential of castle staff stayed snugly tucked in their beds, the late sunrise and the frigid air making the allure of heavy blankets almost impossible to resist.

The reduced contingent of guards patrolling the corridors were not at their most vigilant, thanks to chattering teeth and daydreams of the feast to be held later that night. Besides, their presence hardly seemed necessary; it was far too cold for anyone to be up to anything suspicious.

Except that wasn’t true.

Several floors up, on the royal residency wing, the queen’s chambers to be exact, trouble was brewing.

The creak of a door opening, followed by soft footfalls on the stone floor, drew the attention of a guard. Peering down the hallway, he saw nothing and, presuming it to be the wind, went on about his business, oblivious to the muffled laughter coming from behind a large tapestry.

There was a rustle of cloaks, then the quiet footsteps grew louder, their echoes through the stairwell indicating not one, but two mischief-makers sprinting downward. The sentry keeping watch at the main castle entrance never caught sight of them as they tiptoed past him, instead making their escape through a little-known doorway that had once been used as a servants’ passage decades ago, when servants held much lower status in Camelot.

Free from the castle, they slipped into the quiet streets, the falling snow soon obscuring their tracks. They raced through the Lower Town as fast as the snowdrifts would allow, then past the city walls and into the surrounding meadow.

Finally, out of breath and panting, they stopped, having reached their destination.

“I don’t remember that being so difficult,” one gasped to the other.

“I know. It feels like I just fought in the melee. Still, I’m glad we came.”

They stood close, staring out at the snow settling atop the frozen pond in front of them.

“Me too. It’s beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you, my lady.”

Gwen laughed as Leon wrapped an arm around her. “You always were my charming knight.”

“As I always will be.”

“You better. I command it.”

“And I would never disobey an order from my queen.”

She leaned against him, his presence warm and comforting just as it had been throughout all the years they’d been married.

“Thank you for sneaking out with me. It seems a bit ridiculous but…”

“It’s nothing of the sort. It has been my honor to sneak away with you to this pond for almost three decades now. I can’t think of any way I’d rather spend midwinter morning. Even if I am freezing my toes off.”

“Well, since there are no frogs to chase, we’d better find another way to warm you up.”

Leon smiled as Gwen turned to face him, causing her stomach to flutter. Never in all her days, even if she lived to be a thousand, would she grow tired of that smile. She beamed back at him, taking his hands in hers.

Just as she’d done so many times before, she placed one on her waist, the other on her shoulder, closing the distance between them to lead him through the steps of a dance they’d mastered together years ago, long before the course of her life had taken her from the castle’s laundry to its throne.

“You still remember,” she said.

“Of course,” Leon replied, breath warm against her neck. “I had an excellent teacher.”

They did their best to move, the layer of snow complicating matters.

It was an apt metaphor, Gwen supposed. Their coming together hadn’t always been an easy path, tradition and expectation causing them to stumble. But they’d managed to rise by leaning on each other, and, in the process, found their footing, so to speak.

Which was a very fortunate thing. Because when Arthur proposed she co-rule, as a friend rather than a wife, Gwen hadn’t felt quite ready to shoulder the responsibility of the throne. She could have handled it alone, but having Leon at her side, with his constant, unwavering support, had made it easier. If the truth was told, had made her a better queen.

If life had taught her anything, it was that often things that could be done alone were better done with the love of friends. And Leon was her dearest friend, had been for decades, going back to when they were children, scaring their parents by disappearing in the night to chase frogs in the moonlight. Yes, they were older now, both of them showing a little more grey, a few more wrinkles.

But as far as Gwen was concerned, there was no face she loved to look at more.

“Has it gotten warmer?” she asked, not sure if she was feeling a surge of emotions, the air around them, or a combination of the two.

The ground beneath their feet answered her question, snow receding to reveal surprisingly dry grass below.

As she glanced up to meet Leon's eyes, she caught sight of tiny purple petals raining down softly.

"Bellflowers," she whispered. "Oh Leon."

Overwhelmed by the beauty of it, and of the heart that had brought her out to see it, she buried her face in his chest. Even after all these years, he could still make her blush just as she'd done at fifteen, the very first time he'd brought her a bellflower.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it! Though not as much as I love you."

A pink tinge crept across Leon's face revealing that Gwen wasn’t the only one susceptible to a warmth that had nothing to do with the weather.

“I’m glad. I was worried you would think it was too much, but Merlin convinced me to go through with it anyway.”

“Are he and Arthur joining us?”

“No. They, um, wanted a long morning in bed,” Leon said, his blush turning a deep crimson. “Merlin was actually a little late, but…”

“Oh, I think he was right on time. Now come on. They might want to lie about all day, but we have other plans.”

Pulling Leon close, she resumed their dance, slower this time, swaying with him in the soft morning stillness.


End file.
